Education
BY AUBREY VOGEL
UH health program begins in Fort Bend County
Researchers at the University of Houston at Sugar Land are working to understand how environmental factors contribute to overall health. The Population Health Col- laborative, an education and research hub, is a UH Population Health initiative that launched in November to determine the quality of life in Fort Bend County, which entities can use in their decision-making. Jeronimo Cortina, Population Health Collaborative executive director, said the collaborative’s team will calculate the area’s Urban Health Index, a metric which reports quality-of-life indicators, including: • Health • Infrastructure • Economic development • Education • Other social factors The backstory Launched in January 2022, the UH Population Health initiative is the first of its kind in the nation led by Chief Population Health Officer Bettina Beech, according to its website. Fort Bend County was chosen for the index from other Houston-area counties because of its diversity in both residents and the geographic area as a
whole, Cortina said. “When you look at the county, it’s ... a fertile laboratory [of what] the county is going to look like in the next 30 years,” he said. “We have the opportunity to establish a new way of doing policymaking including the community and involving the university.” Get involved Cortina said the team will need to engage with the community to determine factors that are not measured regularly, such as envi- ronmental and behavioral factors. These factors will be collected through surveys and open calls for community discussions. The dates are not yet set for the community discussions, but they should be released soon, Cortina said. Stay tuned The team partnered with the Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce to host a lunch on April 4, after press time, where the UH Popula- tion Health team shared prelim- inary findings and an update on the project. The finalized report, which is set to be released in May, will allow municipalities and private businesses to consider factors while making important commu- nity decisions, he said.
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Socioeconomic and environmental factors, and health behaviors: 70% Health care: 20% Genetics: 10% Health determinants The study will look at the factors that contribute to health, which include:
SOURCE: UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON POPULATION HEALTH COLLABORATIVE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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SUGAR LAND - MISSOURI CITY EDITION
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